Obama Administration
makes war on Christians
by Newt Gingrich
Dear Fellow Conservative,
Last week, the Obama administration finalized a radical new rule
that uses the health care law to require all health insurance
providers to cover abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization as
well as contraception, all free of charge. The administration
based the rule’s "religious exemption" on a provision drafted by
the ACLU, applying the rule even to religious organizations such
as Catholic schools, hospitals, universities and charities that
oppose such things as a matter of religious belief.
The weak exemption the administration allowed applies only to
religious organizations serving primarily people of the same
religion. It is so narrow that Timothy Dolan, the Catholic
archbishop of New York City and current head of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in the Wall Street Journal
that "even Jesus and His disciples would not qualify for the
exemption in that case, because they were committed to serve
those of other faiths."
Because Catholic institutions serve people of all faiths, the
adoption by the Obama administration of the ACLU exemption
language is an explicit and intentional assault on the Catholic
Church in the United States. President Obama and Health and
Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius know full well that
they are ordering Catholic institutions to violate their
church’s teachings if they want to stay in business. They also
know full well that they are explicitly running over the First
Amendment protection of religious freedom that every American is
supposed to enjoy as a birthright.
President Obama’s message to Catholics is clear: Catholics will
not be able to build organizations according to their faith and
the teachings of their church as long as they refuse to accept
President Obama’s radicalism. President Obama’s order is a
violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of conscience
and an unprecedented assault on Christianity.
Catholics are uniformly opposed to the rule. Carol Keehan of the
Catholic Health Association—an Obamacare supporter—expressed
disappointment "that the definition of a religious employer was
not broadened." Even liberal Washington Post columnist E.J.
Dionne blasted the rule, arguing that "the Church’s leaders had
a right to ask for broader relief from a contraception mandate
that would require it to act against its own teachings."